Step 1: Buy A Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner

I'm a male college student, living in a house with 3 other male college students... One of our worst problems is cleaning. The shower has commonly grown so much mold that we usually felt much cleaner just not taking a shower. Thankfully, my roommates girlfriend bought us the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner.

The thing works like a charm, attach it over your shower head, and once a day, just push the little blue button and close the shower curtain... after a few beeps the automated little maching shoots shower cleaner all over the walls and tub.

We haven't had to clean the shower yet in over 1.5 months!

Step 2: Refills

The automatic cleaner works great, but with all great things there is a catch..

Each refil tank only lasts for about 20 pushes of the button and then you have to go to the store and buy a new refill canister for about $3.89.

Here is a picture of the refill container.

Step 3: Being cheap, I found a better solution

Well... not wanting to spend $3.89 I went to my local dollar store and found this cleaner.

It's clear and is a daily use product just like Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner. It's even almost the same size and contains 32oz. of fluid rather than 34oz.

I found a way to replace the original white foam seal on the bottle which is punctured by the sprayer when a new bottle is put in. I used 1/16" thick neoprene rubber to make a disc to fit inside of the the bottle cap. Getting the cap off takes some effort, press down hard and unscrew it. Poke the original seal gently out with a pen cap,etc. Lay the seal on the neoprene, trace and cut a disc, which should be 1-1/16" diameter to fit inside the cap. I actually cut mine with a cutting die, but scissors will work too. In the center of your disc, punch a 1/8" diameter hole for the sprayer fitting. This makes a tight but stretchable seal over the connection. Refill the bottle with your fluid, screw on the cap. Turn the sprayer upside down, plug in the bottle, and flip right side up. Done, no leaks!

Thank you for your wonderful advice. I couldn't get the cap off the bottle until I came across your suggestion---which worked. I also happened to have a piece of neoprene to use in place of the foam. The neoprene worked like the charm and my bottle doesn't leak at all. For the cleaning solution: I used 3 tablespoons of bleach, filled the remaining half of the container with vinegar and the other half with filtered water. The vinegar solution initially smells, well "vinegary," after spraying but soon dissipates. Everything appears to be working well and I'm so glad I have a cheaper way to operate my shower cleaner now. The bottle I was using was leaking, but he neoprene solved that problem. The cheapest I could find the Scrubbing Bubbles refills were at $5 plus each; the solution I mixed probably cost me at the most $1. Thanks for your help. Couldn't have done it without you.

If you start with a clean shower, it works pretty well. If you start with a not so clean shower, it takes time to work well. If you start with a gross shower, forget it. Get some gloves, some abrasive cleanser, and a sponge with a scrubbing pad and clean it yourself. THEN use the sprayer.

I have not yet tried dollar store or other alternative chemicals in the sprayer yet. It seems that the ideal mod here is to permanently install some sort of tank with a wide-mouthed screw-top opening that is easily filled.

we've been using the regular cleaning solution (scrub&bubbles) that came with our starter pack since 4/10. i cleaned the mildew-y grout with bleach solution just before installing the unit, and we do press the button daily...but i've still had to bleach the grout at least once every 2-3 weeks by hand in spots. it'd probably work better if i always moved the shampoo bottles etc off of the rim of the tub before pressing the button, but that's a pain in the *&$...so i still do the bleach thing as needed. i just may try to refill with a cheap bleach/water/tiny bit o cleanser solution. THANKS for the suggestions!

I think these work better when the shower has been cleaned of mildew.... Use a cleaner with phosphoric acid... a standard mildew cleaner... You have to scrub the mildew with a brush... Its smells nasty but gets the job done..... Once you have killed the mildew mostly, this seems to do a good job of keeping the shower clean. Also, It helps to have a fan in the bath or leave the window cracked after steaming up the bathroom.. If the shower can air out it minimizes the mildew problem..

Man speak for yourself. I got hit in the eye when it came thru the gap in my shower and it burned plenty but stopped quickly. I still flushed my eye to be sure. I didn't clean first and the mildew that was on the grout is almost entirely gone. Still have some hard water stains in the lower corners, but they're fading. FWIW - if you buy this at Costco you get 3 refills for the same price as the startup kit at the grocery store.

If you have a PH testing kit and some muriatic acid you can make a cleaner that works better then CLR. On top of that a gallon of muriatic acid will cost you about 3.00 and once mixed to a PH of 3 will provide shower cleaning solution that will last 6 months or more. Most peoples dirtry showers are due to calcium build up from water that has a PH of 6 and above. Calcium will solidify on hard surfaces at that or higher ph levels. Having water with a PH of 3 will disolve the hard water on the surfaces. Also mildew won't grow in that low a PH. WARNING! Don't do this without a PH tester or you may find that metal item in the shower are being eaten away.

Great idea. I did the same and used Arm and Hammer "Clean Shower" product. It's designed to spray on and leave, just like the Scrubbing Bubbles. It's a lot cheaper. To replace the foam cap seal, I used high density foam, the kind often used to wrap fragile items. I used the old seal as a pattern and cut one to fit the cap. That way it doesn't leak and is pierced easily when you put it in the dispenser. Maybe Johnson Wax will get the idea and start selling refill size containers. Think of the money saved and space at the landfill too.

Yes it's D.I. water, but it's also something else (other than a little polyproplylene glycol or some analog of that) that amazingly inhibits mold without putting free radical chlorine in your bathroom air or eating your marble. The advice to not be in there when it goes off should still be well-heeded. Dow funded a bit of research on it, the rest got done otherwise. The other green alternative might be to keep Chinese Guinea Fowl around to eat bad insects and mold that arise, like the butterfly-house facilities do. But then how would you get that reverse gear alarm sound?

I have used the shower cleaner for a year. Now the thing beeps on its own, when no one has pushed the button. I have replaced the batteries, and dried out the insides, but nothing helps. The thing still works, but also beeps by itself throughout the day. Any ideas how to fix this?

Call 1-800-558-5252 and explain the problem you will have to furnish the code stamped on one of the little ears next to the battery compartment visible with the unite upside down it should start with a letter and about 5 numbers they will send you a coupon for a new unite. They never asked me for a date of purchase or sales receipt.

guys this is a great instructable but the automatic cleaner is a rip off. now i may like Dukey, but this is a non working product that wastes money for 1.batterys 2.cleningfluid. don't buy it. it doesn't clean your shower and is very loud. annoying huh?also i read if it touches your skin with fluid,it will irritate your skin.i made a better shower cleaner for 100$. i know your saying it is dumb, but cleans mold out of my mom's shower. she is happy. also, i create my own fluid. this cleaner has a timer. you don't have to press a thing. it also doesn't run on batterys. ya plug it in to a special plug i made. it is the best thing i ever made. the scrubbing bubbles DOES NOT WORK. HOMEMADE: YES IT WORKS

I've been doing this for the better part of a year - replacing the batteries as needed. There is a giant bottle of 'Tilex' that I've been using to refill the scrubbing bubbles and it seems to work fine. I think it ends up being about $2.50 per refill instead of $7 ($CDN$).

Bleach kills mold, so I am guessing the fluid used is a 1 part bleach to 10 parts water mixture. But don't ever mix bleach with ammonia -- it makes a gas that will kill you. Bleach has to be bought new because it disintegrates in 6 months or so and turns into water. So only buy a jug the right size to use up within 6 months. Bleach will not get rid of hard water limescale, which is MY problem. I tried refilling my automatic shower cleaner using vinegar & water and the vinegar (acid) ate through the mechanism and it all drained away and the cleaner machine would never work again, so don't try THAT.

I have cut a hole in the top end and poured various shower cleaners . . . the problem seems to be that 1) other cleaners don't work as well, especially on the mold and mildew (yes I've tried a bleach solution and 2) some shower cleaners seem to deteriorate the spraying mechanism on the unit and then you are in the position of having to shell out for another sprayer. I've decided that for the $3.00 for the bottle it's cheaper than paying someone else to clean the gross bathtub and I certainly don't want to do it myself!

Great idea! I bought a shower cleaner that was a little more than your replacement, but still $2.00 cheaper than the official refill 2-pack. To those who've had trouble getting the cap off: Try grabbing the cap with a towel around it so you don't hurt your hand.

I couldn't get the cap off mine, so I got a mustard squirt bottle- the yellow kind that you might use at a picnic. I filled it up with cleaner and squirted it through the little opening in the cap. I had to repeat this process a couple of times, but it didn't take long and got the job done.

Good idea... I am a mom of three...I have three men in the house besides me and this was the easiest way my daughter and I could get the men to pitch in...LOL. It was just so expensive...shopping on a budget you know. I am giving this a try.

I was also able to muscle off the cap and refill with liquid soap. Has anyone's visitors ever thought it was bath soap and sprayed themselves on purpose? My brother did! We all had a good laugh afterward!

call me stupid if you want, but wouldn't it be easier to make a hole in the bottom of the bottle and fill it that way? Just cut open the bottom of the bottle, put the cleaning solution back in the dispenser and fill it up....

The makers thot of that too and they made it indistructible. I came down about 2 inches(from the bottom, when turned upside down) and cut a v shaped hole and I put my solution in with a funnel, then dry the surface and put a piece of duct tape over the hole. Creates the suction. While we are being cheap, here is my recipe. 1 oz Dawn, 2 oz fabric softner, 1 cup white vinegar and fill it up with water. That is what they get for charging so much for the dadgum refill. :)

You guys must have some super special units to have these problems. I unscrewed it with my hand, put in whatever bathroom cleaner I have available (I like Lysol mildew remover diluted 10:1), screw it back on and it works just fine. You spill a few drops when putting it back in, so what? The unit is still weak enough that I need to manually spray the far end of the tub every now and then, so I pretty much gave up on it and spray the entire tub down myself. Since we have a window mid-tub I might find a way to mount it there instead and let the unit spray more evenly.

I use a method to refill similar to Buddysfa. First I take the empty bottle and flip it so the cap is up. I squirt 10 shots of a mold/mildew cleaner directly into the hole (hold it up against it). I then take 2 flexible straws (the flexible kind kids get at restaurants) and connect them by folding a "v" in one end of one straw and pushing it into the end of the other straw. You end up with one long straw with the flexible ends at either side. Then I fold another "v" in one of these ends and stick it into the small hole of the container. (The "v" is created by flattening a 1/2" section of the end and folding in half.) I take the other side and place it up to the faucet and adjust the water and straw so the water begins flowing into the bottle. The "v" allows air to escape while the bottle is filling. When it is full I let the cap dry and put one 3" piece of tape from one side of the cap over the hole. Finally I put another piece of tape around the grip of the cap and over the 1st piece and put it back in the holder. Works like a charm and is simple to do.